Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) - National Prisoner Statistics (NPS) Program

Produces annual national- and state-level data on the number of prisoners in state and federal prison facilities. Aggregate data are collected on race and sex of prison inmates, inmates held in private facilities and local jails, system capacity, noncitizens, and persons under age 18. Findings are released in the Prisoners series. Data are from the 50 state's department of corrections, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and until 2001, from the District of Columbia (after 2001, felons sentenced under the District of Columbia criminal code were housed in federal facilities).

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Data Experts
Collection Period
Questionnaires

Methodology

Changes Over Time

Publications & Products

Related Links

Data Experts

E. Ann Carson, BJS Statistician

Collection Period

1926-Ongoing

Questionnaires

	Advance Year-end Counts (NPS-1b -old)
		2004 PDF
	Population Reports Midyear Counts (NPS-1a)
		2010 PDF (78K) \| 2009 PDF (80K) \| 2008 PDF (69K) \| 2007 PDF (103K) \| 2006 PDF (72K) \| 2005 PDF (68K) \| 2004 PDF (47K)
	Summary of Sentenced Population Movement (NPS 1b-new)
		2014 NPS1BT-Form (98K) \| 2014 PDF (112K) \| 2013 PDF (110K) \| 2012 PDF (111K) \| 2011 PDF (109K) \| 2010 PDF (78K) \| 2009 PDF (98K) \| 2008 PDF (102K) \| 2007 PDF (102K)

Methodology

Collection forms for December 31 are sent to central respondents in each of the 50 state departments of correction annually. June 30 forms were sent to the central respondents through 2010, when the midyear collection was suspended pending redesign by BJS. Forms were sent to the District of Columbia until 2001, when its prison system ceased operations. As of December 31, 2001, sentenced felons from the District of Columbia are the responsibility of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Respondents are permitted to update the previous years' data when submitting the current year. Data are submitted online at a secure site.

Changes Over Time

The following categories were added or altered over time: admission and release categories; race and ethnicity categories (1999, 2005), inmates held in local jails due to crowding; inmates held in private facilities, local jails, and in another state (1999); persons 17 or younger held (1998); noncitizens held (1998); and HIV information (1999).

The Prisoner Population Reports Midyear Counts (NPS-1A) survey was suspended pending redesign.

Publications & Products

The following publications and products were generated by BJS using data from this collection.

Correctional Populations in the United States, 2015 Presents statistics on persons supervised by adult correctional systems in the United States at yearend 2015, including persons supervised in the community on probation or parole and those incarcerated in state or federal prison or local jail.
	Press Release \| PDF (787K) \| ASCII file (43K) \| Comma-delimited format (CSV) (Zip format 23K) Part of the Correctional Populations in the United States Series
Prisoners in 2015 Presents final counts of prisoners under the jurisdiction of state and federal correctional authorities at yearend 2015.
	Press Release \| Summary (PDF 193K) \| PDF (1.1M) \| ASCII file (85K) \| Comma-delimited format (Zip format 41K) Part of the Prisoners Series
Aging of the State Prison Population, 1993-2013 Discusses factors that have contributed to the growing number of older offenders in state prison, and examines changes in the sex, race, current offense, and sentencing characteristics of these offenders over time.
	Press Release \| Summary (PDF 236K) \| PDF (2M) \| ASCII file (63K) \| Comma-delimited format (CSV) (Zip format 54K)
Correctional Populations in the United States, 2014 Presents statistics on persons supervised by adult correctional systems in the United States at yearend 2014, including offenders supervised in the community on probation or parole and those incarcerated in state or federal prison or local jail.
	PDF (641K) \| ASCII file (26K) \| Comma-delimited format (CSV) (Zip format 48K) Part of the Correctional Populations in the United States Series
Prisoners in 2014 Presents final counts of prisoners under the jurisdiction of state and federal correctional authorities on December 31, 2014, collected by the National Prisoner Statistics (NPS) program.
	Press Release \| Summary (PDF 235KB) \| PDF (1.3M) \| ASCII file (76KB) \| CSV (Comma Separated Values) (Zip format 40KB) Part of the Prisoners Series
Correctional Populations in the United States, 2013 Presents statistics on offenders supervised by adult correctional systems in the United States at yearend 2013, including offenders supervised in the community on probation or parole and those incarcerated in prison or local jail.
	Press Release \| PDF (385K) \| ASCII file (23K) \| Comma-delimited format (CSV) (Zip format 36K) Part of the Correctional Populations in the United States Series
Correctional Populations in the United States, 2013 U.S. CORRECTIONAL POPULATION DECLINED BY LESS THAN 1 PERCENT FOR THE SECOND CONSECUTIVE YEAR
	Press Release Part of the Correctional Populations in the United States Series
Prisoners in 2013 IN 2013 THE STATE PRISON POPULATION ROSE FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2009
	Part of the Prisoners Series
Prisoners in 2013 Presents final counts of prisoners under the jurisdiction of state and federal correctional authorities on December 31, 2013, collected by the National Prisoner Statistics Program.
	Press Release \| PDF (2.1M) \| ASCII file (80K) \| Comma-delimited format (CSV) (Zip format 54K) Part of the Prisoners Series
Prisoners Executed Prisoners executed under civil authority in the United States, by year, region, and jurisdiction, 1977-2014.
	Spreadsheet (7K) Part of the Capital Punishment Series

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